Inside scoop: The best places for gelato and ice cream in Manchester

After beginning their cake-making journey at Manchester’s Artisan Markets in 2014, Alex’s Bakery ditched the stall for a store front and are now located in the Great Northern on Deansgate.

Black Milk is a hip, Insta-friendly dessert cafe in the Northern Quarter known for its towering ice creams, gelato, sweet bakes, pancakes and Goliath-sized milkshakes and sundaes.

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium began life as an ice cream van for adults, often spotted at local foodie markets and private events. Now, as well as offering a mobile pop-up service, you can find Ginger’s gelato on the first floor of Afflecks on Oldham Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Perched by the canal in the picturesque village of Diggle, near Oldham, Grandpa Greene’s is best known for its award-winning homemade ice cream. It’s also a warm and inviting licensed cafe with glass fronted terraces and indoor dining. 

Eat in or take out at Northern Quarter ice cream parlour Lazy Sundae, where everything’s peachy, from the shop frontage to the travel-inspired menu, which will transport you East with its bubble teas and Japanese specialities.

San Carlo is Manchester’s most famous and, some say, best Italian restaurant. Run by the Distefano family, it’s said to have one of the largest turnovers in the UK. It’s also the place to be papped and you’ll sometimes see a bank of photographers outside to prove the point.

Based in the Northern Quarter, this friendly neighbourhood bistro and bar is the place to avanti if it’s a taste of traditional Sicily you fancy – from authentic street food snacks through big plates of pasta to desserts and holiday memory gelato, eat in or take away.